United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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latholic Rosary Services when Catholic Chaplains vere unavailable. Chaplain James R. Spaid tells of he reaction of some commanding oflicers to the work mf chaplains. He affirms that several commanding mflicers stated that until they came to transport duty md saw the program of chaplains working under hem, they had not realized the importance of the :haplains in the military organization and have thus given them including himself, their full and complete 'ooperation. Chaplain Spaid also tells of an Army lieutenant who lad come . . aboard for a voyage to Korea who had no use for the Ihurch and anything it stood for due to some unfortunate experiences his family had had in his younger days. He Ltated that he had given chaplains a hard timev at every Jpportunity. Upon his seeing our full schedule of daily services for almost every faith, the schedule for Bible classes, :hoir practices etc., he decided to check in on a few and talk 1, little with the men hoping to aggravate them a bit and mock the program apart. About half way out from the States this officer took sick for the first time in his life and :alled for me and in the course of our conversation he un- covered his plan, but he admitted it had utterly failed for ue said he had absolutely no success in discouraging the men attending these various activities, in fact, he felt himself being influenced by the services. So he saw me each day for a period of instruction and I don't believe he missed a single daily service after that for the balance of the trip. I wrote his wife at the oflicerls request, in relation to his decision which made her most happy and inspired her to get back in active work in her former church. I thought it might be a temporary thing, but I have the word of the Port Chaplain at Pusan, Korea that this officer during his entire stay in Korea was one of his most loyal supporters and was very active in assisting the chaplain there. The officer now has returned to the States and now I have had several let- ters from them stating that they feel that their decision has brought a closeness in their lives they have never before experienced. I Each voyage of an MSTS ship is a new experience. New leadership is sought and found. Chaplain Spaid speaks of his volunteers, saying, . . . the most glory is due those many young men who vol- unteered their services to assist me in the entire program. Those men who played the organ, directed our many choirs, those who sang solos, who did the ushering, who assisted in the libraries as well as the religious services as well as those who actually conducted rosaries, Bible classes etc., did a magnificent job in the making of our program possible. Without them wc would never have been able to have such a complete program. On transports, we have a very mini- mum of our own personnel and as a result our congregations are different each trip, these volunteers did an invaluable piece of work and certainly should be recognized for their most unselfish efforts. Chaplain Nelson speaks of the Bible study class as the best source for Sunday School teachers and choir members. Chaplain Spaid says concerning the variety of services, It was nothing unusual to have Protestant, Catholic, Jew- ish, Latter Day Saints, Christian Science, Pentecostal, Seventh Day Adventist land even Mohammedan on one tripl and others . . . held on one day. Catholic and Protestant services are held daily and many of the other groups especially the L.D.S. had services on a daily basis. In addition to the services, Bible classes and instruction classes were conducted daily along with daily choir practices. Chaplain Nelson reports on counseling stating that it varies greatly, depending on whether a person is going to Korean waters or away from them. Sex ed- ucation, rnarriage, and family life were the emphasis on the way out. On the way back the main emphasis was on civil readjustment. He also speaks on counsel- ing men who are interested in full time or part time religious vocations. Chaplain Jesse D. Harder also confirms the latter stating that Several men have in- dicated their desire to become chaplains. A number of men want to become chaplain's assistants. From the reports of the chaplains it would appear that char- acter education lectures were held aboard MSTS ves- sels and were well received. Collateral duties were as numerous as ever. Chaplain Nelson says that in the Special Services program alone, f'On some trips we have as high as 50 members of ship's company and troop personnel under our supervision. From the listing of activities aboard his ship it would appear that Chaplain Peter Marron would need as much help as Chaplain Nelson had. Chaplain Rauzelle M. Johnson tells of a voyage on an ocean that was pacific', in name only. In fact he was packing his congregation in. He recalls that, The chapel area was filled. The ship took a roll while we were reading the responsive reading, we had to stop the reading. A crowded chapel was about half full since the men were sliding from side to side. When the reading was resumed the chaplain read: Arise, O Lord. And the congregation read: And save me, O, my God. And they meant every word of it. The normal trip took 12 days, this one took 19 days. Chaplain Norman B. Holmes calls attention to his 2-year shipboard duty serving the Korean theater as marking the first time in more than 25 years that a Christian Science Navy Chaplain has served afloat and in combat waters. It also appears that Chaplain Holmes was the second chaplain of his afiiliation to serve in the naval chaplaincy. Concerning services aboard his ship, Chaplain Holmes reports, -183-

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Chaplain M. H. Twitchell, FMF chaplain, visited the Wfing and the Division the last of December and the First of January. It is noted in the later award of his Commenda- tion Ribbon that Chaplain Edwin C. O'Malley was re- sponsible Ufor the inspirational appearance of His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Spellman before Wing personnel on 31 December 1952. Chaplain H. Lampe cites the Christmas party of 1952 as an outstanding experience. MAG 12 had on board, 400 orphans from 4 different orphanages, which they supported. They each received gifts and saw Santa, but . . . the tremendously important thing was that the men got to see or care for these children as if they were their own . . . and these chil- dren had a firsthand experience of being cared for by someone who, for the moment, was a real daddy It was more than the giving of gifts-it was the giving of themselves and their love that made the experience a vital, living thing for all concerned? Articles appeared in the Ladies Home journal 1 and the National Geographic Magazinef concerning the work of the unit with orphans. The former article described Operation Kidliftf' and told about the work of Marines at Kangnung, and presented the part played by Chaplains-Weidler and La Duca.9 A TV film was produced to present the story of the MAG-12 orphanage at Kecksa-ri. By this time the Marine Memorial Orphanage at Pohangdong has 6 buildings and 5,700 pyong of ricelands la pyong is 36 square feetj. The MAW also took over the support of an orphanage at Pyongtaek, 40 miles south of Seoul. Chaplain O'Malley noted on 3 March that a number of the Roman Catholic chaplains were about to go on a retreat to Seoul for a Day of Recollection. Chaplain F enstermacher, assigned to the Gun Bat- talion and the H8zS Battery in Pusan, found that it was much better to have services on weekdays rather than to try to serve all batteries on Sunday. It . . . permitted me more time Qforj visiting and counselling with the men at the batteries both on Sunday and weekdaysf' By this time the Wing has five chapels constructed. Forces Afloat No vessels of our forces were sunk during the period under consideration, although previously, in August, the tug SARSI, was sunk by a mine resulting in nine casualties. There was an increase in antiaircraft fire 1 Ladies Home journal, December 1952. 3National Geographic Magazine, February 1953. Cp. p. 227f. and for the period 1 June 1952 to 31 May 1953 Ma rine and naval units lost 170 aircraft from that source but only three were lost in aerial combat. There wa: enough action on ORISKANY for the chaplain tc have the problem of where Mass should be held Chaplain G. J. Barras states, The wardroom wa: used for the first Mass at 0800 to the accompanimenf of launching planes and bouncing bombs. They moved below to the crewis lounge for the remaining two masses though at times they moved down ever one more deck. Chaplain Warren L. Wolf was cited Qin lieu of 2 Bronze Starl for his work aboard the BADOENG STRAIT. Many fine things are said about this chap- lain including '4While in the Yellow Sea, this ofiicel conducted services on numerous United Nations ships of the screening element in addition to those on his own ship, which services . . . were invariably well received by his hosts. Chaplain Wolf indicates thai he felt like the Bishop of the Yellow Sea as I serv- iced Canadian, British, and American Destroyers The Dutch could not use me as my German was too out of date.', He also indicates an improvement a1 the staging area, Sasebo, and states that Chaplains Lonergan and Brink, who were stationed there, were very helpful. Chaplain Walsh relieved the former 1 April. A number of chaplains in the Fleet note the zeal oi their personnel for religious administrations. It is evident that the chaplains were doing a great deal to accept the challenge thus presented. As in previous periods the ships' companies were awake to the needs of others and contributed generously to worthy causes both in America and in Korea. The hospital ships the REPOSE, HAVEN, and the CONSOLATION continued to carry out their mis- sions of mercy. They too expressed an interest in the orphans in Korea. MSTS A number of chaplains continued to serve with MSTS. Their reactions to their duty is of great inter- est. Chaplain John W. Robb pointed out that the ship's primary function was transporting troops to th war area. He felt the importance of not preyin upon the fears of the men, but rather in making a con- structive religious appealf' Chaplain Reginald A. Berry tells of the cooperation of the Commanders of the Military Departments aboard the ships on which he had served. He tells how the executive officer of the Military Department of the USNS Gen. D. E. AULTMAN held Roman 182-

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Aboard each ship my primary duty was to provide for the spiritual welfare of all embarked personnel. To this end I conducted Sunday and daily Protestant Church services un- derway with one Communion service each outbound and inbound voyage. In addition Sunday and daily Roman Catholic Rosary services were arranged for personnel of that faith whenever there was no passenger Catholic chaplain available to hold Mass. Furthermore, services were ar- ranged weekly for personnel of the Latter Day Saints and Jewish faiths. Finally, since I am a member of the Chris- tian Science Church, I also conducted Sunday and midweek Christian Science services. Chaplain of the Year, B'nai B'rith On 12 February 1953 Chaplain Robert D. Goodill was serving on the GEORGE CLYMER when 75 miles away the SS PRESIDENT PIERCE was shaken by a blast after which fire broke out on the vessel. While the CLYMER was hastening to assist the stricken ship the chaplain asked for and received per- mission to board the vessel upon arrival. It took 5 hours to arrive on the scene. Meanwhile some of the injured had been transferred to the BARRETT. The PIERCE was determined to continue on course but requested a Fire-Fighting party. At 0300 Chaplain Goodill was the first to board the vessel. He headed to the scene of action where a hatch had been blown completely open. He assisted in fighting the Hre which was consuming' part of the cargo of oxygen tanks, rubber tires, and other inflammable material. Learning of casualties he went to minister unto them. Later he attempted to go to the BARRETT as he was informed that one of the men taken aboard had died. He notified the Captain of the PIERCE of this loss and returned to the wounded. He offered spiritual consolations to the sufferers regardless of their religious aHiliations.,' He subsequently was des- ignated as Navy Chaplain of the Year, for 1953 by the Chaplain A. D. Goode Lodge of B'nai B'rith. -184-